My Impressions (I got it early!)

NintenDood

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#1 Edited By NintenDood

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, oh yes I got it, and the street date has been broken!

These little guys change as the game learns more about you.

I had pretty high expectations for this game, and it's delivered above and beyond what I wanted. This is my first Silent Hill game, so this style of survival-horror is pretty new to me, but I already prefer it over the gunplay and gore of past horror games. The graphics and lighting effects look AMAZING for the Wii, so good someone might mistake it for a next-gen game. The story is really well told, with solid voice actors, and it raises a ton of questions that I hope will be answered by the game's finale. It definitely gets weirder and weirder the more you play. It's not as scary as you'd expect, with the only real threat coming from the monsters in the ice world, and nothing in the actual town, but these moments are pretty tense and exciting. Also, this game adapts to you as advertised, with the psychiatrist visits altering how the game and enemies look, and how the characters interact with you. DO PLAY THIS GAME. IT IS VERY VERY GOOD, from what I've played anyways. I've played it for about 6 hours and it seems I'm near the end of the game, so it might be a good rental, but still, you should play this game. That is all. :3

14 years ago

AgentJ

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#2 Edited By AgentJ

Great. I will be getting SH, but its good to reaffirm that its as good as it sounds

14 years ago

NintenDood

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#3 Edited By NintenDood

@AgentJ: Check your local GameStop, they may already have copies in stock. I got mine there, but it took a while to get the employee to sell it to me.

And, if you guys have any questions about the game, I'd be happy to answer them :)

14 years ago

AgentJ

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#4 Edited By AgentJ

@NintenDood said:

" @AgentJ: Check your local GameStop, they may already have copies in stock. I got mine there, but it took a while to get the employee to sell it to me. And, if you guys have any questions about the game, I'd be happy to answer them :) "

I'll be buying it, but not right away. I've already spent my black friday allotment, so a purchase before Christmas is unlikely.

14 years ago

deactivated-5c5cdba6e0b96

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#5 Edited By deactivated-5c5cdba6e0b96

The screenshot you have posted is for the PSP : O

14 years ago

JJWeatherman

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#6 Edited By JJWeatherman

Awesome. Glad to hear it's good. This is the only Wii game I have been really anticipating for a while now.

14 years ago

NintenDood

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#7 Edited By NintenDood

@Bucketdeth: Oops.... Consider it EDITED!
And yes, the game looks much better in motion.

14 years ago

Claude

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#8 Edited By Claude

I decided to get this a while back. The lack of combat intrigued me. Fight or flight should be a cool option. I'll get it with Christmas money.

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#9 Edited By Meowayne

Another one who is delighted by this game's storytelling above expectations. Great.
Nintendood, if you like this way of videogame storytelling, get Silent Hill 2 asap. There is a reason that despite clumsy gameplay, it is regarded as one of the top games of the decade. Doesn't look that much worse than Shattered Memories, as well.
(In fact, SH3 still looks better than almost any Wii game)

And, if you guys have any questions about the game, I'd be happy to answer them :)

1. What is the atmosphere you play the game in? Lit room? Company?
2. Do you have the feeling that the "psych profile" mechanic heavily influences your story/playthrough?
3. How far into the game are you?
4. How often and to what extend does the game force HUDs and Icons and On-Screen-Displays onto you?
5. Reviewers have said the snowy-sequences lack a sense of danger and tension and the nightmare sequences are more frustrating than challenging. Would you agree?
6. Do you feel like the town has a "personality" or is it just a pretty backdrop for a story that could have been told anywhere else?
7. Is the story presented more visually, interactively, or verbally? Previous Silent Hill games did not feature many conversations or exposition, but told a lot silently (ha!) by environment design and your interaction with it. If someone were to make this into a movie, would the storytelling suffer?
8. Can you turn off the Wiimote speaker and have the phone messages come from the TV instead?
9. I read that the gesture input in the chase sequences is not just "shake the wiimote!" but requires actual directional input. Is that true?
10. I read that the game suffers from framerate issues. True?
11. Does Yamaoka know when to shut up, i.e. are there many sequences you would say would've been better with just ambient/silence instead of music?

14 years ago

NintenDood

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#10 Edited By NintenDood

@Meowayne:
1. I play in my bedroom with no lights on, for the best experience lol.
2. Yes it does, I believe I got the 'Good' Ending, and based on how you answer, you can get 1 of 4 endings.
3. I finished it yesterday, and honestly, it had one of the best endings in a game I've ever seen.
4. For most of the game, the only HUD elements are your target reticle, and the cell phone (only when you take it out), but during nightmare encounters, Icons pop up telling you what motions to use to go faster over an obstacle.
5. The snowy-sequences are not scary, and you cannot die during these, but they help flesh out the story, and give you a chance to explore some locales. My only fault with the game is that the later nightmare sequences don't really give you much of an idea of where to go, and you might get lost on the way, but for the most part, these aren't frustrating.
6. Well, in a sense, it's a backdrop, but that's not saying it could be told just anywhere else. The real attention to detail comes from Harry's interactions with the various characters he meets on his path. The enviroments are varied too, so you won't get bored of exploring the places.
7. It is very verbal in its storytelling, but after you finish the game, you could go back and actually see places in the scenary that pointed to a certain ending :-X. The characters are the prime focus in this game, and I actually think it would make a good film.
8. Yes
9. You could certainly just get away with shaking the wiimote, but if you're more accurate with how the motions are displayed in the HUD, your character will be faster.
10. Yes, but it only lags a bit when you're opening doors, I suppose this is akin to Metroid Prime's doors. Other than that it runs really, really well.
11. Actually, a lot of the game is just ambience. And now that I think about it, I never really heard much of the soundtrack, except in Nightmare Sequences and pivotal story moments.
I hope those answers were sufficient ^_^

14 years ago

NintenDood

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#11 Edited By NintenDood

The story-telling in this game, and how it ends, is PHENOMENAL. I couldn't believe the ending, it kinda blew my mind.
Oh, and I recommend only AFTER FINISHING THE GAME to read this thread on GameFAQs, which shows how much the enviroment factored into the storytelling:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=959196&topic=52560610
Once again, DO NOT CLICK THAT UNTIL YOU'RE DONE WITH THE GAME.

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#12 Edited By Meowayne

Thanks for answering my questions. Some good and bad things there, but mostly it sounds very good.

I can look past any gameplay flaws if the interactive storytelling is really as well done as people make me believe it is. It's not like SH1, 2 or 3 weren't desasters, gameplay-wise.

14 years ago

Sarnecki

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#13 Edited By Sarnecki

Bought this and playing the shit out of it tonight.

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#14 Edited By Meowayne

@Sarnecki said:

" Bought this and playing the shit out of it tonight. "

Be sure to share your impressions.

14 years ago

nail1080

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#15 Edited By nail1080

@NintenDood said:

I've played it for about 6 hours and it seems I'm near the end of the game, so it might be a good rental, but still, you should play this game. "

6 hours? Wow pathetic fail of a silent hill game. I'll stick to Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill homecoming thank you very much

14 years ago

Jeust

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#16 Edited By Jeust

Yep, the duration is disappointing.

But the game seems very good overall.

I'll get it for the ps2.

14 years ago

Evilsbane

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#17 Edited By Evilsbane

I was going to give the Wii a chance and buy this but after learning that the game is barly six hours ill just rent it.

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#18 Edited By Meowayne

Of the people I have read first impressions from, barely anyone did not start a second playthrough after finishing the game, which according to non-reviewers is closer to 10 than to 6 hours.

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#19 Edited By Meowayne

@Meowayne said:

" Of the people I have read first impressions from, barely anyone did not start a second playthrough after finishing the game, which according to non-reviewers is closer to 10 than to 6 hours. "

I am now 3 hours in and compared my progress to a walkthrough vid on Youtube, which was only about 1 hour in at the same point in the game. This confirms my suspicion that 6/7-hour walkthroughs come from reviewers who rush through the game completely ignoring the point of the exploration-parts... exploration.

14 years ago

dbz1995

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#20 Edited By dbz1995

The thing is, surely there is a fair bit of replay value because of the psychiatrist idea at the beginning (which, may I add, is genius)?

14 years ago

Meowayne

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#21 Edited By Meowayne

@dbz1995 said:

" The thing is, surely there is a fair bit of replay value because of the psychiatrist idea at the beginning (which, may I add, is genius)? "

The core gameplay does not change dramatically. You encounter different people, or the people you encounter look and behave differently. Posters change, decorations, advertisements, monster designs, and of course it decides which of the many different endings you get. There are some branching paths that also make a difference - early in the game you can choose to either go through a fashion shop, or through a garage, each with their own versions of the same puzzle, and the first person you encounter can either by Cybil, or a barmaid, each with their own different models and conversations.

The game seems to have about the same replay value due to gameplay decisions as Mass Effect had. Depending on your playstyle, you can have completely different conversations and situations in Mass Effect, and it's the same in Shattered Memories. Only there are less conversations, and your decisions also alter some graphics, paths and models. And a good deal of optional stuff to see and discover.

I would not say it's a game maker and that there is a second playthrough there for everyone. But I have read of a few people who are already in their second or third(!) playthrough.

14 years ago

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

An icy re-imagining of the classic Silent Hill, which trades weapons for frantic chase sequences as the player tries desperately to flee pursuing enemies. It takes on more of an adventure game format than traditional survival-horror.

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